The Student Loans Company warned of a rise in the number of scams aimed at university students as hundreds of thousands of undergraduates prepared to start the new academic year.
In many cases, websites and emails are adapted to look as though they were created by the Student Loans Company or Student Finance England, the company’s subsidiary set up to distribute grants.
According to figures, more than 700 students reported receiving “phishing” emails sent out to obtain confidential bank details in the last 12 months.
Students were conned out of £107,000 between September 2009 and July 2010, compared with £43,000 a year earlier.
Officials have also closed down 50 fraudulent websites in the last 12 months - double the number in 2008.
Heather Laing, fraud prevention manager, said students were more likely to receive correspondence such as payment schedule letters or requests for further information at the start of the academic year.
“Scammers exploit this increased contact from the company, and some students may fall victim to an email request that looks to be from Student Finance England or the Student Loans Company asking for confirmation of bank details,” she said.
“However, we will never ask students to confirm their bank details via email. If they do receive such a request, they should forward it on to us to investigate.”
In 2008/9, 63 students were forced to change their bank account details after replying to fraudulent emails. Students were conned out of £43,000, although the Student Loans Company blocked further payments of almost £70,000.
In the last academic year, 110 students responded to fraudulent emails and were conned out of £107,000, it was disclosed. A further £120,000 in payments that were about to be made to fraudsters were blocked by the company.
Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, said: "It's important that students are protected. One of the best ways to protect yourself is to remove your email address if it's online or hide it on social networking sites, if you use them."
--By Graeme Paton,T 21 Sep 2010